阅读理解 If soldiering was for the money, the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS) would have disintegrated in recent years. Such has been the explosion in private military companies (PMCs) that they employ an estimated 30,000 in Iraq alone—and no government can match their fat salaries. A young SAS trooper earns about ￡ 2,000 ($3,500 ) a month; on the "circuit", as soldiers call the private world, he could get ￡ 15,000. Why would he not'?
For reasons both warm-hearted and cool-headed. First, for love of regiment and comrades, bonds that tend to be tightest in the most select units. Second, for the operational support, notably field medicine, and the security, including life assurance and pension, that come with the queen's paltry shilling.
Although there has been no haemorrhaging of special force (SF) fighters to the private sector, there has been enough of a trickle to cause official unease. A memo recently circulated in the Ministry of Defence detailed the loss of 24 SF senior non-commissioned officers to private companies in the past year. All had completed 22 years of service, and so were eligible for a full pension, and near the end of their careers. Yet there is now a shortage of hard-bitten veterans to fill training and other jobs earmarked for them, under a system for retaining them known as "continuance."
America has responded to the problem by throwing cash at it, offering incentives of up to $150,000 to sign new contracts. The Ministry of Defence has found a cheaper ploy. It has spread the story of two British PMC employees, recently killed in Iraq, whose bodies were left rotting in the sun.
单选题 21.It can be inferred from the first paragraph that______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题是一道细节题，测试考生对于虚拟语气的识别和理解能力。本文首段第一句是一个包含虚拟语气的句子，根据此句的含义可反推出本题的正确选项是C“Britain's best soldiers stand resolute against Mammon”(英国的精锐军人面对金钱坚定不动摇)。首段第一句的含义是：“如果当兵的目的是为了金钱，那么特种空军和特种水上军队近年来就早已经瓦解了。”
单选题 22.The word "security" in the second paragraph most probably means______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题是一道词汇题，测试考生确定词语在原文中的准确含义的能力。本文第二段尾句中的“including life assurance and pension”(包括人寿保险和养老金)暗示“security”一词的含义应该是“保障”，故本题的答案是A“protection”(保护)。
单选题 23.Paragraph 2 is written to______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本题是一道文章段落结构题。本文作者写第二段的目的是解释说明第一段尾句所提出的问题。故本题的正确答案是D“interpret why young SAS troopers would not get￡15,000”(解释年轻的特种空军军人为什么不会挣到15000英镑)。
单选题 24.The conclusion can be made from the third paragraph that______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本题是一道细节推导题，测试考生对让步转折的识别分析能力，尤其是引申推导能力。本题正确答案的信息来源是第三段首句，该句的含义是“虽然特种军队中的军人没有大量地流失到私人军事部门，但是流失的人数已足以导致官方的不安”。由此可以推断：私人军事部门的高薪水对一些特种军队的军人已经起了作用，这些军人已经加入到私人军事部门。可 见本题的正确选项是B。
单选题 25.In the last paragraph of the text, the author has______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题是一道细节题，测试考生识别理解文中有关对比的信息和内容的能力。尾段首句讲：美国人用提供重金来解决相关问题(offering incentives of up to $150,000 to sign new contracts)。而尾段第二句则说：英国的国防部找到一条比美国人少花钱的办法(The Ministry of Defence has founded a cheaper ploy)。显而易见，本文作者在尾段针对相关问题拿美国和英国作了一个对比，比较它们在处理相关问题时方法上的不同。故本题的正确选项应该是C“made a contrast”(进行了一次对比)。